Chapter 1074: Chapter 1074: Forced Retreat
Nero turned a deaf ear to Pei Yan’s taunt. He looked at his severed arm and recalled Pei Yan’s explanation of his abilities. He knew that Pei Yan wasn’t lying, but one thing was certain: such overwhelming power could not be used at will, at least not now!
This ability might be unleashed once or twice more, or perhaps that was already his last strike! Nero couldn’t gamble, because if he lost, he would pay with his life. After the previous encounter, Nero had already gleaned the intricacies of that technique. He believed that if he continued to absorb the blood of strong beings like the Dragon King, filling the last gap in his bloodline, he could manifest his Flawless Divine Body — the same technique wouldn’t leave him so helpless.
Retreat! Defeat and retreat are the only options!
"Are you already thinking about how to admit defeat and leave the arena?" Pei Yan’s words exposed Nero’s inner thoughts, startling him as he looked at Pei Yan in shock.
"Don’t look so surprised! Rest assured, I don’t have the ability to read minds, but given your organization’s usual conduct, your thoughts aren’t so hard to guess!" Pei Yan turned his head to the sidelines and shouted, "Hey! Under these circumstances, does one person from the Bloodshade need to declare surrender to end the match, or does it require all three?"
This was clearly shouted to the Immortal Palace elders maintaining order outside the arena. There had never been a precedent of one against three in the arena and gaining victory, which left the Immortal Palace elders in a difficult discussion. Lin Ruxue, the master of the Daoist Realm, who had arrived at the scene, personally gave the answer, "In a three-person match, naturally, all three must simultaneously concede for it to count. Of course, if the other two have lost consciousness or are deceased, one remaining can naturally declare forfeit themselves! Oh, and the same condition applies as before; one must reach the forfeit zone to announce surrender validly!"
Crack! In the Bloodshade’s private room, Candle Dragon’s seat shattered in response to these words from Lin Ruxue, clearly aimed at encouraging Pei Yan not to leave any survivors.
"Fan Chen, go to the Daoist Realm and tell them we’re surrendering to end the match!"
"Understood, sir!" Before Candle Dragon’s secret message had finished, Mu Fanchen, seated at the sidelines, had already stood up and was walking toward the Daoist Realm viewing platform.
On the platform, Pei Yan heard these words and looked at Nero with a smile, "You heard it too! Now you’re all in the same boat. I admit your strength is formidable. If you merely want to flee to the forfeit zone to declare surrender, I’m not able to kill you thoroughly before you shout that word. But if you try to escape with those two burdens in front of me, it’s wishful thinking! Make your choice! Abandon your companions to let them fend for themselves, or stay and fight to the death with me?"
"Pei Yan, don’t be so ruthless! Don’t your people in the East advocate leaving some leeway for future..."
"Enough! There’s no future between us! Even if there were, it would be armed conflict! You’ve learned quite a few clichés about leaving room." Pei Yan said while walking to the left, stepping on Di Xin, who was struggling desperately with half his body gone, and continued, "When you hit my friend, why didn’t you think about leaving room? Didn’t you always enjoy making people feel despair? Now I ask you! Do you feel despair?"
"Don’t move!" After saying this, Pei Yan exerted force, a series of crisp bone-breaking sounds echoed.
"Ah–!"
Hearing Di Xin’s screams, Pei Yan didn’t retract his foot; instead, he continued to press down repeatedly, his face turning sinister as he spoke word by word, "Bastard! I told you, for everything on you that doesn’t belong to you, I’m taking it back, got it! The two powers you absorbed used to belong to my friends. They might not be as strong as you, but they always held the greatest enthusiasm and loyalty to the land that raised them, to friends, to family, and they sacrificed their lives to protect them! Compared to them, you’re like an insect, garbage! Every time a waste like you uses their power on the stage, it makes me more disgusted and angrier!"
Crack, crack!
"Uh–uh–uh!" Under the continuous heavy pressure, Di Xin, struggling to breathe, couldn’t utter a complete sentence, aside from repeatedly pounding Pei Yan’s mechanical leg with his only remaining hand, he could only gasp futilely for air like a fish out of water, glaring at Pei Yan with already unfocused eyes, emitting a silent curse.
Pei Yan wasn’t afraid of such a gaze. While stepping on Di Xin, Lin Junzhao’s source energy flowed from his heel into Di Xin’s body beneath him, greedily absorbing the considerable powers contained within, before feeding back into Pei Yan’s body. Feeling the continuous influx of energy into his body, Pei Yan felt entirely at ease, slowly closing his eyes.
"I never said you could leave with him!"
Di Xin was unsalvageable, but Ivan might still have hope! Although he had set them up to block for him, if they survived, they would certainly seek revenge later, yet they were also the Children of Origin chosen by the teacher. If left unrescued, the teacher would likely blame him after the match ended.
With this thought, taking advantage of the moment Pei Yan was killing Di Xin, Nero moved to Ivan’s side, bent over to lift him, and Pei Yan’s warning entered his ear.
"You can try to see if you can reach the forfeit zone alive with him!" Pei Yan slightly opened an eye, exuding a domineering aura with a cold provocation.
Nero, having placed his hand on Ivan’s shoulder, hesitated, then secretly left a mark behind Ivan’s shoulder before standing up and retreating.
Ivan, whose mind was already in turmoil, didn’t notice this detail. Watching Nero show retreating intent, he couldn’t help but shout, "Hey! Nero! Help me! Don’t be scared by one word from him! Help me! You’re the one who got me into this mess! You bastard, I still have hope!"
Amid Ivan’s curses, Nero turned and leaped up a shattered cliff, heading straight for the retreat zone without a hint of hesitation or guilt.
Watching Nero turn away and leave, Pei Yan smiled slightly, also relieved. Nero guessed right! Pei Yan’s newly awakened power indeed couldn’t be used frequently. At Pei Yan’s current strength, he could use it twice a month, and these two instances were already used — once resisting the last tribulation that could have killed him, and another facing off against Nero’s Flawless Glazed Body, resulting in not being able to use this power for the next month.
